China

Country: China
Region: Asia
Currency: Yuan (CNY) (¥)
Languages: Chinese, Mandarin
Time Zone: UTC +8

Communications: Very Good

Formation Cost: 7200 - 8400 USD$
Formation Time: 28-56 days
Maintenance cost: 3000 - 4200 USD$

Executive Summary: China is the world’s most populated country (population of 1.3bn) and its fourth-largest economy. While there have been concerns over decelerating economic growth, China’s GDP is still expanding at rates of 7-8% per year and the country is expected to supplant the USA as the world’s largest economy by value in the next 20 years. The Communist Party still rules China with an iron grip, but a process of economic liberalization begun more than three decades ago has transformed the economy and foreign investment in a number of industries is now encouraged. There are however, sharp regional variations in the pace of development, and the business culture is starkly different to what many foreign investors are accustomed to. Large cities in the Eastern China generally have transport and telecommunications infrastructure to Western standards. The more barren west of the country and some “second tier” cities are under developed by comparison. However, the Government has put in place fiscal incentives for foreign investors in many of these areas, and tax reforms put in place in 2008 included concepts more familiar to international investors.

Suitable for: Wealth Management, Treasury Management, Banking, Insurance, Fund Management, Shipping, Aviation, Yachting, Trading Goods, Intellectual Property/Licensing, E-commerce, E-gaming
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Vehicle Types: Representative offices, wholly foreign-owned enterprises, foreign-invested commercial enterprises, joint ventures and general partnerships

Capital primary business districts: Beijing, Shanghai

Good Relationships: France, India, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Korea (Republic of), Russia, United Kingdom, United States

Bad Relationships: Japan, Philippines

Tax Burden - Business: Moderate

Tax Burden - Individual: Very Heavy

Headline tax rates: CIT 25%, PIT 3%-45%, VAT 17%

Treaty Jurisdictions: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia

TIEA Jurisdictions: Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, San Marino

Information Links:

• China Lowtax Knowledgebase
• China Tax-News
• China Treaty Updates